KOCHI: With Ramadan month here, fruit vendors in the district are aiming at a major spurt in sales. While they anticipate a manifold increase in sales, the merchants are worried about the "negative campaign going on in the social media about widespread chemical contamination of fruits". According to the All Kerala Fruit Merchant's Association, there are many baseless videos and texts doing rounds in online platforms which are threatening the existence of vendors.
"Some allegations are totally unscientific like plastic painting on watermelons and large scale contamination of grapes. There is no measure to curb these campaigning on social media," says P M A Hussain, general secretary, All Kerala Fruit Merchant's Association.
He said the association wanted to address such rumours before the fasting began when the sales would soar. "We too are responsible citizens. We have been ensuring the supply of good fruits to people here for years. In a meeting held in 2006 and 2012 while implementing the Food Safety Act, we had promised to ensure only good quality produce in Kerala. Many times, the Food Safety Department had conducted inspections and collected samples for testing. But, so far, no complaints have been registered against us," says Hussain.
According to Hussain, it is impractical to conduct contamination like the allegations in social media. "How can anyone coat tonnes of grapes and watermelons with plastic. It is humanly impossible. But, people tend to believe what is shown in WhatsApp videos. We want to bring attention to this," says Hussain.
The fruit merchants say they ensure the produces are healthy and devoid of chemical contamination. "We have agents who approach the farmers and middlemen and inspect the farms in Nettoor, Bengaluru and Mysuru markets. We too are responsible for the item we sell. No product will be bought from farms that resort to such tricks," says Dasappan, a vendor at Broadway. The association officials add the change in shape and colour of the fruits are mostly due to climatic changes and has little to do with the fertilisers or insecticides used.